David Camp, NOSSCR CEO and General Counsel

Recapping a Successful DC Conference and Looking Ahead

It was a great pleasure to welcome many of you to our Washington, DC, national conference last week—including those who took advantage of our first-ever streaming option. We had excellent attendance, engaging continuing education sessions, dynamic side events, and inspiring keynote speakers including the leadership of Social Security’s new Office of Disability Adjudication. If you missed out, register now for our next conference in beautiful San Diego!

Your participation, enthusiasm, and dedication to NOSSCR’s mission made this event truly special. Our sessions were highlighted by Michelle Spadafore and Katrina Tomer on overpayments; Ann Biddle, Melissa Zeidler, and Shandanette Chase on ethics; and Nick Coleman on AI. Epic Health Systems presented on the exciting opportunities for processing-time reductions using health IT integrations with SSA. And nothing could top the 100% “5 out of 5” rating achieved by Aleyda Turno and Debora Wagner on “SSI Work Rules and 1619 Magic.” Our side events featured a Scully Dinner on a rooftop overlooking the DC monuments—the best venue we’ve ever had! We were thrilled to award Jennifer Cronenberg and Congressman Earl Pomeroy our Eileen Sweeney Distinguished Service Awards for 2024. We raised money for the PAC, held board meetings, taught our attendees to use NOSSCR’s new app, and most importantly gathered in person to catch up as colleagues and friends.

Acting Commissioner Dudek was unable to speak in our general session–asked not to by the White House–but nonetheless we drew some (clearly) paid protesters outside the hotel. Our keynote speakers were the leadership of the Disability Adjudication component—Acting Deputy Commissioner Jay Ortis and Assistant Deputy Commissioner Jim Parikh. Our members don’t value empty rhetoric at a NOSSCR conference, and we appreciate that Deputy Commissioner Ortis focused on current data, policy changes coming soon, and their mission-focused approach taking advantage of a newly unified leadership over the entire disability claims process from initial application through the Appeals Council.

You should check out Social Security’s slides, linked below.

The NOSSCR Board of Directors met before and after the conference, electing several new members to fill circuit representative vacancies. Riley Fenner of Maine (1st Circuit), Shayan Farooqi of New Jersey (3rd Circuit), Patrick O’Neal (5th Circuit), Marc Raifman of Illinois (7th Circuit), and Marc Kalagian (9th Circuit) will serve until those circuits hold new elections either this summer or next. A full directory of our volunteer board members can be found here.

If you would like to be considered for board vacancies, at-large positions, or as a candidate for circuit representative you may submit the request using our webform at the bottom of our board of directors webpage at any time of year. We hold circuit representative elections each summer, but the Nominations and Elections Committee will consider all timely applications received on a rolling basis. For more details, please review our Board of Directors page and our bylaws. This summer, we expect to hold elections in all circuits except the 7th and 9th.

The big news over the next few weeks should be the Senate voting to confirm a new Commissioner. NOSSCR has seen Social Security led by many acting and confirmed Commissioners over the years, but there is a definite advantage to having the longer view, full authority, and increased independence provided by Senate confirmation. The Commissioner’s term is 6 years, and as of this writing we expect Frank Bisignano to be confirmed in a nearly party-line vote. During Tuesday’s Senate session, cloture was filed on Bisgnano’s nomination. Cloture is expected to ripen during Thursday’s session, which could lead to a confirmation vote as soon as this week. NOSSCR will continue to provide timely updates as things progress.

As always, it is a privilege to serve you as NOSSCR’s CEO.